St. Augustine has a unique musical community

Bluegrass, folk, Americana group The Driftwoods will play at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Downtown Plaza Concert.

Contributed Photo A little more than a year ago, the St. Augustine music scene meant something different than it does now.

Musicians that the community still adores, The Driftwoods and Sam Pacetti, were around. But for the most part, the old city had a music scene reflective of the qualities that have attracted visitors here year after year; it was small and quaint.

Not anymore.

The city is increasingly becoming a hot spot for music and many local musicians attribute the recent boom to an increase of venues in St. Augustine.

After the arrivals of Caf 11, Loose Screws, Club Fusion and others, the scene started to pick up, attracting contemporary, nationally acclaimed groups like Modest Mouse and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.

Most of the musicians featured in the following article emphasized the positive influence Caf 11 has had on building the music scene in the area. Some say that prior to the caf's opening, too few nighttime places for young adults existed, especially for those interested in independent music. The most frequently noted detail among the young adults interviewed was that earlier this year, Modest Mouse played two sold-out shows back-to-back in St. Augustine Beach.

Musicians credited the music venue, shop, video rental and activist-gathering area, Loose Screws, for supporting local music, especially by providing practice space at a resonable price.

J. D. Khar, business associate and husband to Chris Khar, Loose Screw's owner, gave credit for the growing scene to area musicians who desired a larger scene.

"It's really that do-it-yourself, punk-rock ethic; we really wanted to do it," he said.

Likewise, the folks putting on local shows at Club Fusion said that their deep appreciation for music was part of what encouraged them to be a venue. Since January, the club has featured more than 100 local, regional and national adult bands and has hosted a teen night for younger groups.

Paul Tai, manager of Club Fusion, said that he was surprised at how quickly and widely the club became known. Not long after opening, he received a call from a Kansas City band wanting to play during teen night.

"We're still new," he said. "The major thing is we're here to let all of the bands play and let everybody have the chance to show what they have."

THE NESKIMOS

They affect us all.

When Dan Henuber asked his good friend Danny Lippi to be in a Nintendo music cover band with him, Henuber hoped that the group would provide a vacation from composing more "serious" music.

"It was supposed to be my break from serious music," he said, "but then it turned into probably the most serious band I'll be in."

Playing their third summer as members of the NESkimos, Henuber, Lippi and Ross Rockafellow acted as videogame expert consultants on an MTV game show and were recently interviewed for an article for "Spin" magazine.

Together with their newest guitarist, John Campbell, who "gimmicked" his way into the group with a dancing R2D2 toy that plays the Cantina song, the band is keeping their fingers crossed in hopes of winning $10,000 at the Ultimate Jam 2004 in Jacksonville.

Henuber said that he was worried about the contest, considering that the NESkimos will be the only videogame band performing.

The genre is only about three years old, he said, with similar bands few and far between.

The NESkimos sound differs from the other bands, because they "neskimize" the music they cover, Campbell said.

Sometimes they might play in a Bossa Nova style. At other times, they might sound like surf rock or hard rock.

Bass player Rockafellow, who had never played a guitar before joining the NESkimos, describes their sound as "nostalgia tied to a brick, and thrown through somebody's windshield."

Despite their originality and popularity, the band has yet to release a CD for fear of being sued by the Nintendo Corp. over copyright laws.

Instead, they release their music in large batches for downloading on their website at www.neskimos.com . They are working on their newest batch, "The Strongening," predicting that the release will "flex its muscles" sometime next year.

And though the NESkimos have fans worldwide, the four who went to St. Augustine High School consider themselves mostly connected to the St. Augustine music scene. They reiterate again and again that local music "affects us all."

MOMENTS IN GRACE

Taking a break in Missouri from a busy cross-country tour, Jake Brown, the bassist of Moments in Grace, said that he is enthused about being part of the growing scene in St. Augustine.

"I feel like when we moved to the area, the area really didn't have much of that going on, and we're happy to be a part of that," Brown said. "We're really excited that it's finally happening."

The band recently signed with Atlantic Records and has been working with Brian McTernan, who is known for his work with national groups like Hot Water Music and Thrice. "He's kind of like the fifth member of our band," Brown said. "He has a lot of good ideas.

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Moments In Grace

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"I think he's helped us to focus on the ideas or lyrics that we wanted to get across."

Their album, "Moonlight Survived," references the lyrics of their song, "The Distant and Longing Light," which the band felt encompassed the overall mood of the album, said Brown.

The songs on "Moonlight Survived" have a hard and melodic sound that Brown describes as "melodic rock" and is unlike anything he has heard before, he said.

Their CD release performance was held at Caf 11 on Wednesday, after Brown and band members Tim Kirkpatrick, Justin Etheridge and Jeremy Griffith returned home from touring with Finger Eleven.

Moments in Grace, once spread across Florida, has called St. Augustine their home since December 2002, when they decided that it was the only town in the state where they could all agree to live.

Brown said that three or four bands told him they are thinking about moving to the "quiet" and "beautiful" city.

"Believe it or not, it's what a lot of guys in bands really like in a town," he said.

EXHAUSTRA

Off of State Road 16, T.J. Stein, Jeremy Rogers, Tom Derringer and Pat Bryan practice in a recording studio just big enough to tuck away their equipment while leaving enough elbow room for a session.

Stein and Rogers sometimes dream about their band, Exhaustra, making it in the music industry one day.

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Singer-songwriter Terri gamble got her start playing in front of audiences by losing a bet with cafe 11 owner Ryan Dettra.

By MADELYN TROYANEK, Staff

Nestled between foam walls and tune-up vibrations, guitars and drums glisten beneath the overhead light while the band members prepare themselves for practice.

The band owns the studio they practice in, which makes writing music easier in one sense, said bassist and vocalist Rogers.

But just as up-and-coming groups must work on formulating cohesive ideas and maturing their sound, group dynamics are also important, even when the confines of the studio are too much.

Dealing with the inevitable band arguments is becoming easier for the ever-changing Exhaustra, as the group seeks to create songs that guitarist Stein describes as coming "full circle" and having a "spacier" noise than their normally punk and hard rock-sounding music.

"We wanted to first put something out there that people can easily grasp," Rogers said. "It would be cool if someone could use our music as a stepping stone into more indie bands or other bands."

Exhaustra strives to perform in many different towns and venues in order to leave audiences wanting more and avoid wearing out their welcome in one place, Rogers said.

Their album, "Exits and Escapes," can be purchased on their website at www.exhaustra.com and at www.smartpunk.com and www.interpunk.com .

TERRI GAMBLE

Terri Gamble had a following before she played a show.

The singer-songwriter, who performed in St. Augustine for the first time in March, does not have an album.

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MOFRO

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Still, she attracts about 30 to 50 people on average to her shows, possibly because she used to play during Caf 11's closing hours.

The folk singer, who writes about different forms of love and the paths people travel through during romantic and platonic relationships, needed a little coaxing and trickery to convince her to take the stage.

"I was like, 'no way, not gonna, that's silly; I don't do that,' " she said.

Caf 11 owner Ryan Dettra struck a deal with her -- that if he got one of her favorite musicians, Jeffrey Foucault, to perform at the caf, she would have to open for him.

Thinking Dettra made the bet in jest, Gamble agreed, only to have to pull on her pointy, red shoes for her debut.

Gamble found her interest in singing when she went to church as a child in hometown Bradenton. Her singing past was what made approaching the stage a bit easier for her.

Though Gamble laughingly describes herself as "loud" and "obnoxious," she tries to find privacy during her daily to twice-daily practices.

"I get real nervous in the house playing," she said. "I play at night when everyone's asleep."

MOFRO

J. J. Grey of the North Florida front porch, soul band MOFRO, speaks comfortably into the phone after pulling up from a fishing trip where the anglers caught a bunch of sharks and two keepers.

The clinging and clanging of family members and dishes resonate behind Grey's southern accent as he talks about his latest album, the environment, and the conversation that convinced the artist, who toured with B. B. King and Ben Harper, to use a stool.

Released in late July, "Lochloosa," tells of backwoods Florida with songs at times so powerful, singer, harmonica player and guitarist Grey says he does not even want to perform them for fear of breaking down. The album succeeds MOFRO's "Blackwater," which was featured on NPR, MTV, and made it to the R&B top ten list on amazon.com.

Both albums are named after natural occurrences in Florida, one after Lochloosa Lake and the other after the North Florida water darkened by tannic acid.

Preservation of the environment and old Florida culture play large parts in Grey's and band mate, guitarist and dobro-player Daryl Hance's philosophy. The band asks environmental activist groups to spread flyers for their show along with flyers for their causes.

"To me, the old-timers here, like my grandparents, they lived almost like indigenous people or Native Americans," Grey said. "They struck a balance with nature that isn't here no more."

Preservation is key to MOFRO, not only to protect their natural surroundings, but to ensure that they can keep going as musicians.

One of Grey's fondest memories as a performer was when he met Bill Withers while in Los Angeles. Grey said that the soulful songwriter advised him to get a stool and protect his "mojo" by not thinking that he can do it all when he can't.

Grey said that he took the advice, bought a stool that day, and said that in today's music world aspiring artists should understand that it's "easy come, easy go."

"Tell your story," he said. "Be ready to work, be ready to go bankrupt many times over.

"Be ready to die trying."

THE DRIFTWOODS

Still mourning the loss of St. Augustine hero, musician and friend, Gamble Rogers, three members of The Driftwoods took a moment between sets at Creekside Dinery to talk about their inspirations and St. Augustine music.

The traditional and contemporary bluegrass, folk and Americana quartet normally performs at the Dinery and at music festivals but are especially excited about playing the Downtown Plaza Concert Series from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, partly because it is one of the last performances of the season, vocalist and guitarist Lis Williamson said.

The singer, with husband Lon, and band members Gabe Valla and Eric Searcy, will sometimes practice a new song moments before a show.

"We'll say, 'Hey, have you heard this song? You're going to love it,'" Lis Williamson said. "And, we learn it just like that."

They were noted as one of the top local bluegrass bands by some St. Augustine music venues and their popularity was apparent as fans and friends approached them nonstop during their 30-minute break.

Bassist, vocalist and mandolin builder Lon Williamson said he thinks that interests in bluegrass music were reawaken recently, partly because of the popularity of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou" soundtrack in 2001.

Valla, vocalist, mandolin player and guitarist, said that he has noticed a "big" growth in local music, adding that he thinks artistic people are drawn to St. Augustine.

"That's the common thread for me," he said. "The natural beauty, the surroundings, this is an inspirational place for me."

Their music, along with that of overlapping bands The Williamson Mandolins and Valla Turner Williamson, can be purchased on their Website at www.gatorbone.com .

SAM PACETTI

Sam Pacetti, the singer-songwriter and six-string guitarist who the Associated Press once called a "major talent in the world," has found that music cannot be his only outlet.

"I try not to let the music define my being," he said. "I'm here for a limited amount of time, so I'm trying to do all that I can for the benefit of humanity, and I can't really focus on one thing."

Pacetti, whose albums are a blend of Irish music and folk, is taking a Taoist approach to music and life.

He plays regularly at the Milltop and recently opened for Pierce Pettis, an artist he greatly admires. But Pacetti mostly wants to have a strong connection to what many people call God, the universe, archetypes or the unknown.

"I had experiences like that as a child," he said, "feeling connected to everything with very powerful realizations that there is a force in the world that has our best interests in mind."

Pacetti remembered reading about artists who could go "far out" into their creative spaces in a way that seemed distant from the earth, and then reconnect. The guitarist said his problem was that he could not fully reconnect with the earth.

Pacetti said he found that during the steady career-focusing at the height of his popularity, when he would wake and lay down to thoughts of his music, he was missing out on the opportunity to really live.

The guitarist is happy to be in his hometown, St. Augustine, where he produces music not because he is focused on perfection, but because making music is simply part of who he is.

"I love this town," he said. "It's in a way my mistress; it overwhelms me ... I sometimes wander the streets at night, enraptured."

Pacetti's music can be purchased online at www.waterbug.com/pacetti.html .